May 29, 2006

Microsoft Office 2007: See What It's All About

There's no denying it: Microsoft is releasing a wave of new software relatively soon. It's worth checking out so you can determine the impact on your existing systems and integrations, and whether/when it makes sense to implement the new versions.

Microsoft has published the Microsoft 2007 Office system preview site, which is chock full of information on the new office suite. Particularly engaging is the Microsoft Office UI video tour. As Office 2007 represents a radical User Interface (UI) shift, it's definitely worth viewing. Gone are the rampant menu pull-downs found in Office 97 through 2003. The context-sensitive "Ribbon" is the new UI. As I haven't tried the Office 2007 betas, I can't comment on it first-hand. However, I have to hand it to Microsoft for producing a marketing video that made me feel like this guy. Very impressive.

Although Microsoft says you should not have to upgrade your hardware from running Office 2003, you may have to upgrade your operating system. For instance, the Office 2007 beta requirements page lists "Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 2 or later or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (or higher)" as "required". While older hardware may indeed run it, with the emphasis on graphics-intensive features such as the new Live Preview and improved graphics overall, you'd probably want to test it on your older PCs to see how well it performs.

Topic(s):   Legal Technology
Posted by Jeff Beard
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